Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/crop-yields/)
Federal officials are seeking public comment on proposed regulations to better oversee next-generation food modification. Meanwhile, the St. Louis-based seed giant Monsanto is making strides with gene-editing tools.
Since 2000, the percentage of genetically engineered corn planted in the United States has grown from 25 percent to 92 percent in 2016. But unless yields increase significantly, experts say the world will not be able to grow enough food to feed itself by 2050, with food shortages anticipated as soon as 2030.
After making record profits from 2007 through 2013, farmers in Champaign County, Ill., who rent their land are likely to lose money on both corn and soybeans in this year and next, said a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign economist.
In recent years, farmers have increasingly chosen to insure both the yield of their crop and the revenue of their crop. By choosing a revenue-based insurance option -- such as the revenue protection policy -- farmers can insulate their crop against steep drops in prices.
Crop yields will be double compared to last year's yields, according to some estimations. Yet an increase in yields means a decrease in crop insurance payouts. And when the price of some crops has plummeted that means farmers might see their income dropping, as well.
Corn farmers have seen high prices of corn in the last few years, as prices have reached nearly $8 per bushel in some places. This year though, experts predict that corn prices will drop considerably.
Crop production will have to double by 2050 to fulfill the needs of a growing and increasingly affluent population. Meeting this challenge will be difficult but not impossible, according to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.